The Education Of African American Children

An achievement gap between White students and students of color has been documented consistently at all education levels. Racial inequality in education is a serious problem in the United States. The Educational Longitudinal Study carried out in 2002 examined the relationship between race and composite reading and math scores among Black and White students. A total of 8,315 tenth grade students were included in this analysis. The results showed a difference in test scores between Black and White students with Whites scoring higher than Blacks (Rowely & Wright, 2011).The findings from this study suggest that discrimination based on race as well as family factors outside the school setting contribute to this difference

In the editorial, U.S. Education: Still Separate and Unequal, Lindsey Cook gives several explanations on the education gap between blacks and whites. She suggests that the main issue that causes the education gap is the impact of the community on a young black child. Also the impact of their parents or the lack of involvement also causes this major gap in education.

The first test that I took on the website was the “Race IAT” test. As I was answering the first few questions I was finding it to be a little racist. The reason why I found it be racist is because, of how they said whether I agree or not if African American children have a negative effect on European American children in schools. My answer was no, African American children do not have a negative effect on other children because, their only kids going through an education and every child has their own view points. In a way children can be influenced by other kids but, having a certain race in the class doesn’t automatically influence other children to bad. While I read the questions given to me I started to feel a bit of anger because, I have

Even though slavery happened almost 400 years ago, the disparities between African-Americans and their Caucasian counterparts is still present in today’s time. According to one source, African-American children are more likely to be in poverty than Caucasian children. These unsettling facts do not stop with just childhood, the unemployment rate for African-Americans is twice as high as it is for Caucasians (Ethnic and Racial, n.d.). When reading these statistics, some people might think that education is the answer that can fix all problems. They might even say that everyone essentially has the same chance to achieve greatness and become successful. However, even high-performing African-American students can be subject to unfair treatment.

The education system has been around for many years. Although it hasn’t always had the same structure, the general idea of education was always to learn and gain more knowledge to better one’s life and future. While many of the whites were able to easily obtain an education, blacks, indians, and others had it much harder. This actually contributed to the division of the races as well. The whites believed they were mighty and powerful, while the minority races had to hide and fight for their rights. Education was an empowering thing for many people, especially for those without a say.

Another reality that Diane Ravitch sheds light on is the misconstrued theories about the achievement gap. Reformers often say that African American and Hispanic students have not made progress for decades (Ravitch, p.55). However, after looking at the data from NAEP, it is evident that this assertion by the reformers just simply is not true. Rather, these students have shown dramatic increases in math. Many do not recognize this though because white achievement has also improved which keeps the gap at large. (Ravitch, p.56) Throughout different grades, African Americans and Hispanics have shown remarkable progress in mathematics. There has been improvement in reading as well, just not as dramatic as the progress shown in math. Ravitch states, “Today’s reformers often imply that schools alone can close the achievement gaps among different groups. The like to point to exemplary charter schools with high test scores to prove their point” (Ravitch, p.59). While the belief that a charter school could bridge the achievement gap and overcome the disadvantages of poverty, it simply is not a realistically feasible concept. Thomas B. Timar of the University of California states, “Yet the gap is the symptom of larger social, economic and political problems that go far beyond the reach of the school… While schools are part of the solution, they alone cannot solve the problem of educational disparities” (Ravitch, p.60). Timar calls society to take action by

The achievement gap is unfortunately a commonality in America citizens’ language. The achievement gap has affected students for many years. Research has demonstrated the controversies that exist on the causes of the gap, but still we are talking about it in the 21st century. Researchers and public policy officials are examining the dimensions of the achievement gap in America’s school. Unfortunately, the lack of addressing the “real problem” will continue to impose heavy and often tragic consequences of colored students more specifically lower earnings, poverty, and higher rates of incarceration.

Ever since I was in high school I’ve always wanted to take an African American studies class. The main reason is because learning basic history always bored me and the only thing that was the most positive we learned that applied to black people were about MLK’s “I had a dream” speech and Rosa Parks not giving up her seat and the reactions they received from the black community. The bad outweighed the good when it came to talking about African Americans in history.There were always topics about cruel treatment of African Americans during slavery and during the Civil Rights movement. History teachers always left out the positive side to how black people always came together to have their voices heard. I always had to do my own research to further

In the United States there is a long history of failure to provide every young citizen of this country with a good education. While there has been revolutionary advances to give every child their best possible chance to get an education; the same cannot be said about the quality of the education given to each child. Many studies have brought forth data that show minority groups within the United States have a much more difficult academic experience when you look at a child’s transition to kindergarten, a school required qualification for teachers, and their views on academic achievement based on cultural norms, and racism experienced.

George Washington, the first president of the United States once wrote in a letter to George Chapman that, “the best means of forming a manly, virtuous, and happy people will be found in the right education of youth. Without this foundation, every other means, in my opinion, must fail.” Although the people who received an education and the type of education they received in the eighteenth century vastly differed from the education that exists today, it is clear that from the foundation of this nation education has been seen as a fundamental necessity. When running for office, many political candidates address the value and significance of a strong education system. Yet, at the end of the day significant change in the system rarely occurs

There are many discrepancies about the underlying causes of the problem of African American educational achievement. Measures of academic achievement in education show that African Americans are trailing their White counterparts, especially in higher education (Aronson, 2002). Numerous factors that affect academic achievement, affordability, financial aid, support of family. African American students are frequently stereotyped and spend a great deal of time establishing their academic credibility and rapport in the classroom. The challenges encountered in academic and social life on campuses is the result of the scrutiny that black students face when it comes to their intellectual ability. The need to validate their intellectual competence in the classroom to White peers and to faculty derive from stereotypes or comments from non-Blacks about the Black community (Fres-Brit, 2002). Whether women of color choose to attend a particular institution because of its ability to satisfy a desire to be in a predominantly Black environment, or because of the quality of education a particular institution offers, they can benefit in numerous respects when it comes to academic and career achievement. Understanding the variety of factors that contribute to Black students’ success requires researchers to examine resiliency from multifaceted perspectives (Bentley, 2015). In a space where black bodies and female bodies are considered “space invaders”, social scientist Nirmal Puwar, explains

Historically, race and class have been the defining factors in determining the quality of education received by people in the United States ( Gordon, 1990; Williams & Land, 2006). The western curriculum serves the cultural interest of whites, who have their roots in the European countries. It does not favor the cultural interest of African Americans, but it would only make sense that African American people are educated on true African history. The African American quest for education has been discussed by many African scholars and the struggles that African communities face since slavery. Dating back years ago, the African American communities have been suppressed, given only limited knowledge of their people, history, and

An achievement gap describes the differences in education growth between a certain minority (African-Americans or Latino-Americans) as compared to white, middle SES students. There is such a drastic gap between black and white students because most black students attend a 48% black population school, where most white students attend a 9% black population school. Achievement is also the lowest in a school with a high population of black students, this is because these schools are usually in low SES urban areas where there aren’t as many resources as mainly white populated schools. These mainly black populated, low SES schools are including families who aren’t as involved in helping their child’s education. In low SES schools, there are more less qualified teachers with less experience who may impact a student’s learning than those teachers who are more experience.

People work to support themselves and their families, that ideal has always been present no matter the century. However, in the mid-19th century, work was not defined by simple part-time to full-time shifts. At the time, work was something that African-Americans strived to have, willing to jump over several metaphorical barriers to achieve it. Different plans to work for African-Americans are described in the works from Booker T. Washington Up from Slavery and Dubois The Souls of Black Folk are directly opposing ideas, one placing importance in hard work and determination while the other stresses on proper education for black

As a foundation and a background for this research study, the researcher compared and analyzed previous research studies performed by other researchers. As there is a plethora of research information on the achievement gaps in schools, the research noted that most of the research was executed in order to provide an understanding of the racial achievement gaps, but failed to assess the patterns of inequality of students as they progressed from kindergarten throughout high school. The information and understanding